"C..Captain," he greeted, stumbling slightly over the words.
She waved it off, uninterested in formalities.
"I hear you’ve mastered the fire elent," she said, walking toward him with steady steps. Her voice was calm but direct. "Within a few hours. And not just that... you used it effectively in battle. Control against vine and spider monsters. And from what I hear..." her gaze sharpened, "...you took down a ritual guardian alone."
Arthur felt the weight of her attention press against him.
"Let see it for myself."
The air changed.
Her expression hardened, and the sa overwhelming pressure Arthur rembered from their last spar spread through the hall. Mana gathered around her like a living presence, dense and suffocating, yet perfectly controlled.
But this ti, it was even stronger.
Arthur’s lips curved slightly.
She was taking him seriously now.
That alone excited him.
He cracked his knuckles, then slowly drew his newly acquired dagger. The familiar weight grounded him.
"You wouldn’t mind?" he asked.
Her answer ca with a smirk.
"Co at ."
That was all he needed.
Arthur moved.
He no longer held back. Fire gathered around his dagger, spreading along its edge like a living fla. Heat rippled through the air as the weapon glowed with concentrated intent.
Before advancing, several fireballs ford above him. They floated in the air, unmoving, held in place by sheer force of will, just like he had done during his fight with the abyss worshipper.
But this ti was different.
Without the support of the Sovereign’s Domain, the control was rougher, heavier, harder to maintain. The flas trembled slightly, resisting his command.
Still, they obeyed.
And the captain noticed.
Arthur felt it in the way her gaze sharpened.
He vanished from where he stood.
Intent Step.
The world blurred as he closed the distance instantly, his body moving faster than ordinary motion allowed. His dagger slashed toward her, wrapped in blazing fire.
She was ready.
Her hand rose to et the strike, coated in a dense layer of mana. The flaming blade collided with her defense, and instead of cutting through, it stopped as though striking solid steel.
A shock ran through Arthur’s arm.
The difference in control was overwhelming.
Her mana wasn’t just strong. It was precise, condensed to a terrifying degree. It moved exactly where she wanted, forming a perfect barrier over her skin.
What kind of training produces this...?
The thought flashed through his mind, but he didn’t hesitate.
The clash had created the opening he wanted.
Behind her, one of the floating fireballs shifted. Its surface twisted, stretching and reshaping into multiple sharp fragnts. In an instant, it divided into several blazing spears.
They shot toward her from behind.
Arthur stepped out of the attack’s path with another Intent Step, watching closely as his flas descended upon her.
For a brief mont, everything slowed.
Then..
A burst of light.
It erupted at the exact mont of impact, brilliant and overwhelming. The radiance pierced through Arthur’s vision, forcing him to look away instinctively. His eyes burned as the training hall was swallowed in white.
A deafening explosion followed.
The fire spears detonated with imnse force, heat and shockwaves spreading across the chamber. The ground trembled beneath his feet.
When the sound finally faded, Arthur opened his eyes again.
The captain stood where she had been.
Unmoved.
Untouched.
There was no sign of injury on her body. No burns. No damage. Only the scorched floor around her bore evidence of the attack’s power.
Arthur stared.
The light... that had been her doing.
He had increased the output of his attack far beyond what was necessary for a simple spar. He wasn’t trying to win, but he wanted to test the gap between them.
And the gap was vast.
Yet instead of discouragent, curiosity filled him.
How strong is she really?
He replayed the mont in his mind. The instant of impact. The flash of blinding radiance. The way his flas seed to vanish within that light.
He hadn’t seen what she did.
He only knew that whatever it was had completely erased his attack.
Arthur steadied his breathing, his grip tightening around the dagger. His heart pounded, not from fear, but from excitent. The stronger the opponent, the clearer his path forward beca.
He could feel his intent sharpening.
The fire around his weapon burned brighter, responding to his focus. The heat wrapped around him like an extension of his will, unstable yet fierce.
Across from him, the captain observed quietly.
Her eyes held sothing new now.
Interest.
Approval.
Perhaps even expectation.
Arthur felt a strange satisfaction at that.
He had wanted acknowledgnt, and he had earned at least a fraction of it.
But he also understood sothing else.
The power he had shown, the flas he had controlled, the techniques he had ford through instinct and intent... all of it still stood far below true mastery.
And that realization did not frustrate him. Instead it drove him.
He exhaled slowly, centering himself. The fireballs still hovering in the air trembled, awaiting his command. His mind raced with possibilities, with ways to refine his control, with ways to push further.
The captain had not moved from her position either.
She waited.
Calm and confident as usual.
Arthur adjusted his stance, ready to continue, but the weight of what he had just witnessed lingered in his thoughts. That blinding light... that absolute defense... it hinted at a level of strength he could barely comprehend.
And for the first ti since entering the hall, his nervousness transford completely.
It beca hunger.
The desire to reach that level.
To understand that power and to surpass it soday.
The training hall fell into a brief silence, heavy with tension and unspoken challenge. Heat from Arthur’s flas mixed with the faint traces of the captain’s mana, the two forces pressing against each other like opposing tides.
Neither spoke.
Neither stepped back.
But both understood.
This spar was no longer just a test.
It was the beginning of sothing far more important.
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